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Catalytic Converter Recycling

On August 19, 2010, in Uncategorized, by zigag
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Catalytic Converter Recycling

When they first appeared on cars in 1970s, catalytic converters helped reduce the emission of pollution significantly. Most of the modern cars have so-called three way converters, meaning that they reduce or convert to less toxic materials Carbon Monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides molecules emission. This is done by a chemical reaction inside the catalyst. However that left another problem, what do to with used converters. After expanding their life span, catalytic converters were posing a major environmental threat. But it was not until 1990s that several companies started major catalytic converter recycling business. Incentive for recycling of converters was not environment concern, but rather the profit that could be made from the process.

Catalytic converters contain various precious or highly expensive metals, like platinum, rhodium, palladium, nickel, manganese, cerium and copper which are used as active material inside the catalyst. Each of these has advantages and disadvantages when it comes to catalytic converter usage. Some of them are also illegal in some countries, like copper in the United States, since it produces dioxin when used in catalytic converter. All these materials are very valuable and can be sold at high prices, making catalytic converter recycling very lucrative venture. One of the problems these companies were facing is determining the value of each converter unit. Depending on the mileage, two same type nits, used in the same car model can have drastic difference in the amount of precious metals that can be recycled. That is why a process called gradation has been developed, in which specializes laboratories determine the approximate amount of valuable materials in each convertor, making it easy to determine the price of individual unit. From there, converter is being cut up to pieces, precious metals extracted and the rest is melted as a scrap metal. Not only the profit is being made, but a valuable service to the environment is also performed.

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Copper Recycling

On August 9, 2010, in Cooper, by zigag
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Copper Recycling

Copper is one of the most commonly used materials in modern industry today, and it was one of the first metals known to man, either pure or as apart of bronze alloy. It has a wide application in all sorts of electrical devices, due to its excellent conductivity. It is also used for making heating and plumbing pipes, since it is very resistant to corrosion. Unlike many other metals, which are commonly used as alloys, copper is most often used in its pure form. After iron and aluminum, copper is third most produced metal in the world. There fore it is no surprise that it is one of the most recycled materials on the market. Demand for copper, already high, is rising every year. For instance, an average car 30 years ago contained 30 to 35 pounds of copper. Today, car average about 50 pounds of copper. Boeing 727 contains staggering 9000 pounds of copper. This high demand ensures that copper recycling is a lucrative business.

When buying scrap copper for recycling, companies will sort it into several pricing categories. Most valuable are bare bright chunks or very thick wire. Number 1 copper decent size wire, with no paint or soldier. Least valuable is coated thin wire, like the ones we find in coaxial cables.

Copper recycling is very promising industry. Even though the current crisis has brought down the prices of raw materials, hugely affecting the price of recycled copper, the market already shows the signs of improvement. Once the recession is over and economic growth continues, the demand for copper will sky rocket once more. A large part of copper sold will be recycled. Now it is an excellent time enter the field and set up positions while the market is still iffy. This way, when it recovers, you will be already established and ready to expand, utilizing market growth.

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Recycling Business 2010

On August 6, 2010, in Uncategorized, by zigag
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Recycling Business 2010

Recycling in some form or another has been practiced throughout the history. Scraping old warships fro scrap wood and later metal has been one of the earliest forms of recycling. However, in the last 50 years, when environment consciousness has evolved and appropriate legal actions taken, recycling business has been booming. Today, it’s an industry worth billions of dollars world wide. Legal acts are constantly changing, demanding larger percentages of materials to be recycled. In the light of diminishing resources on the planet, this is a very prudent course of actions. It also provides for plenty of business opportunities for entrepreneurs. Even though the latest financial crises has affected this market as well, soon enough it will bounce back, since law makers are making regulations tighter every year. For instance, in England, boroughs that exceed their annual quota of waste they send to the landfill face severe fines. Considering that amount of waste is increasing at alarming rates, this can be a major problem, unless they can sort and recycle excess waste. Whether we are talking about paper, metal, wood, glass or plastic, there are still large enough demand for recycled materials to keep the market afloat.

Once the effects of the crises had ceased, the price of raw materials will start rising again, which will in turn lead to the higher prices for recycled materials. Considering in how many areas recyclables can be used, it seems a waste of money to buy a truck load of timber, if you can produce paper from recycles one far cheaper, not to mention the impact on the environment. As the pollution starts affecting our lives more and more every year, public demand for more recycling will increase. Right now, only small fraction of the worlds waste is recycled, but the percentages are steadily increasing.

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Ways to Recycle, 2010, 2011 Tips

On August 2, 2010, in Cell Phones, Glass Bottles, Paper, Steel, by zigag
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Ways to Recycle, 2010, 2011 Tips

If recycling was a new thing in the late 20th Century, in 21st it has become mandatory, if we are going to preserve what precious little resources we have on the planet. Often cited motto reduce, reuse, recycle is becoming a new mantra for future generations. Today, recycling is not just some new fancy thing; it is a tool for survival. There are plenty of ways to recycle almost everything, from batteries to cars. Most often recycled materials are metal, paper, wood, glass and plastic.

Recycling starts with you. The first step is sorting out waste, either by using specialized bins or by collecting recyclables and turning them over to local recycling centers. Most counties have some sort of reward paid for every pound of recyclable waste you turn over. Some of it will be recycle right there, but most of the waste will be taken to huge recycling facilities which process it. Scrap metal will be melted in smelters and reused, as well as paper and plastic. Glass bottles will be washed and returned to service. Some companies specialize in recycled spare parts for cars. Junk cars can be stripped of everything that can be reused, like windshields, windows, spare parts and wheels before being sent to processing yard which will cut it to pieces ready for melting. These spare parts are later sold, labeled as reused or recycled at considerable lower prices.

Electronic waste is also becoming a large source of raw materials, especially since manufacturers are required to pay special tax for every item that is not recycled. It is much cheaper for them to organize recycling centers which will gather old products and process them in the proper way. Special care is being paid to hazardous parts, like cell phone batteries and batteries in general, as these items can harm the environment.

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Cartridge Recycling to Make a World Better Place

On July 30, 2010, in Ink Cartridges, Toner, by zigag
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Cartridge Recycling to Make a World Better Place

When we started recycling, the options were slim. Recycling wasn’t such the big deal that it is now. Over the past decade, recycling has evolved into a movement of the world. You are now able to recycle everything to make the environment better for everyone.

“Going green” makes headlines just about every day in the news. Now you can recycle ink cartridges. These cartridges are disposable, but why throw them away when they can be recycled? All you have to do is take the cartridges to any office supply store and recycle them there. Stores such as Office Depot and Staples are just a few of the stores that have cartridge recycling programs.

About 1 million ink cartridges are thrown away every year. Did you know that if you were to recycle your cartridges, the cost on them would go down? By throwing these cartridges away, we are damaging the environment even more. Some places even give you money to recycle cartridges. These are only certain cartridges though. Some ink cartridges come with a little bag in the box for you to put the used one in. You send this back to the manufacturer and they will recycle it.

There are a lot of recycling programs that are free. Anyone can participate in the programs, even schools and businesses.

Recycling is caring. When you recycle, you are helping humans, animals, and the environment. The environment takes care of us, so we should take care of it. Recycling is just one big step that we are taking to make the world a better place to live. If you don’t already recycle, you really should. One day the landfills won’t have any more space to dump anything. Where will trash and garbage go then? You can save space in landfills by recycling.

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What Do Recycling Companies Do?

On July 26, 2010, in Questions and Answers, by zigag
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What Do Recycling Companies Do?

When you recycle, where does it go? It goes to recycling companies.

Recycling centers are making it easier than ever to recycle. There is curbside pick up, drop-off centers, buy-back centers, and deposit/refund programs.

With buy-back centers, they pay you for the items they have based on its market value. These kinds of centers are just like scrap yards that purchase by the weight of the items.

Deposit and refund programs are a little different. If you have ever paid attention to the bottle or can that your drink came in, you would see refund 5 cent on the side. The recycling collection center will give you the refund of 5 cent.

Curbside pickup is the one you’re probably used to seeing the most. This is when you separate plastic from aluminum products and set your green tub outside on the curb the night before it is time for the recycle to run. After that, you bring your recycle tub back in and do whole process over again every week.

Drop-off centers are simply the best. There’s usually a drop off center in the middle of the city so it’s just about the same distance for everyone to travel. These locations accept recyclable material, but you have to take them to the center yourself of course.

I can’t stress how important recycling is enough. You can help the environment in so many ways and doesn’t take a rocket scientist to do most of it. You can start recycling at anytime. Even if you have never recycled before, you can always start. It’s never too late.

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Recycling Aluminium Cans

On July 24, 2010, in Aluminum, Cans, Tips For Adults, Tips For Kids, by zigag
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Recycling Aluminium Cans

Many people in today’s society don’t really understand how important recycling is to humans, animals, and the environment. When you recycle, you are making the world a better place to live and exist.

Aluminum cans are less than 1% of the entire U.S. waste stream. Did you know that recycling just one can saves about half a gallon of gasoline or the energy it takes to run a television for 3 hours?

Way back when, aluminum was worth a lot more than gold. Today, 80,000,000,000 cans are used in society every year.

Aluminum can be recycled over and over. The numbers of times these cans can be recycled are unlimited. Aluminum is made into many different products, but beverage cans are the number one product.

About 50 % of aluminum cans are made from recycled aluminum cans. The can was invented around the 1800s, but it wasn’t used for beverages until way later in 1965.

You save quite a lot of energy when you recycle cans. More than 90% of energy is saved when cans are made from recycled materials. Over the years, these cans have gotten lighter by 30%. These cans are easily crushed, light weight and compact. If you don’t have a curbside service in your neighborhood, you can always aluminum cans in a big trash bag and take them to a recycling center or site. You might want to crush the cans so that you can have space to store more. Some recycling sites even pay you for doing so!

You can even start a recycling program at your school. Have bags set in place in the cafeteria to encourage students to recycle. Make sure you have at least two bags so you will be able to separate the plastic bottles from the aluminum ones. Recycling is great for the environment for you and everyone else.

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Wood Recycling, Save Rainforest

On July 24, 2010, in Furniture, Wood, by zigag
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Wood Recycling, Save Rainforest

Perhaps the most important material that can be recycled is wood, as it greatly affects the speed with which rainforests are disappearing. Often called the lungs of the planet, rainforest once comprise 14 percent of Earth’s surface. Now they are down to 6 percent and every second another one and a half acres are lost to short sighted timber companies and governments. Home to some five million species of plants, animals and insects, rainforests are among the most densely populated habitats on Earth. According to some scientists, 20 percent of all oxygen n earth is produced by rainforests. Western pharmaceutical companies use rainforests ingredients in 25 percents of all medicines, and that is only form 1 percent of plants tested by scientist. At this rate, rainforests will be gone in 40 years and we will never know what other 99 percent hides. These are very frightful statistics and the main reason behind wood recycling.

Recycled wood has many purposes. Today you can get furniture, barrels and garden wood products made from recycled wood. If there is no other option, it can always be used for fuel. It is certainly more environment friendly and not to mention cheaper to sending your waste wood to a landfill

Wood recycling has great impact on preserving our environment. Every tree we cut down means less oxygen is produced and smaller habitat for animals and insects. This causes a domino effect on the entire eco system, eventually leading to us and our children. By recycling, we are sending a clear message that we care about the world we want our children to live in and that it is important to us that we leave it in no worse condition than we have inherited it from our parents.

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Recycle Your Phone and Make a Difference

On July 23, 2010, in Phones, Tips For Adults, Tips For Kids, by zigag
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Recycle Your Phone and Make a Difference

Recycling cell phones is a very simple way we can help save the planet but often is looked past by people. Cell phones are one of the most toxic items that we posses and in fact, about 65,000 tons full of toxic waste are dumped each year due to cell phones. That’s about 2 million cell phones that are being discarded each week. To help stop cell phones from polluting our environment all we simply need to do are recycle them. There are various charities, causes and companies around the world that take old cell phones and re use them for various reasons.

One thing that is done with them is that their given to senior citizens. This enables seniors to have a phone in their house or when their out on the streets so they can call 911 if the need may happen to arise. These phones truly become a life saver to so many seniors who can’t afford expensive phone plans just incase something were to happen and they needed help.

Another thing that is done with these cell phones is their given to soldiers across seas and to domestic violence victims in case of a 911 call needed to go out. Many soldiers over seas can’t afford phones and this allows for them to have one for emergencies or to call home. The simple privacy of having their own phone is truly a blessing.

Cell phones can be sent to recycling companies, businesses and even charities. There are lists all over the web on where you can send your mobile device to donate. You can also see your local retail store; Radio Shack, Circuit City, Best Buy and others to drop them into their in-store recycling box or bin. This allows for the poisonous mercury, dangerous toxins, lead and other pieces and components to be discarded through the proper EPA guidelines. This quick process will ensure a safer and cleaner environment aside from helping millions.

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Tyre Recycling – Get Brand New Basketball Court

On July 22, 2010, in Tyre, by zigag
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Tyre Recycling – Get Brand New Basketball Court

The process tire recycling involves the recycling of tires of vehicles or all kinds which have been removed from the vehicles as they are no longer usable on the vehicles due to regular wear and tear leading to damages that are beyond repair. These tires of all wastes are highly durable and take very high time to decompose. These are manufactured and used in high volumes and when no longer usable form the most troublesome waste source. These are fortunately very easy to recycle. These can be even recycled to be used in basketball courts and new shoes also. Tire recycling is highly encouraged because landfills cannot take any more tires as they are dumped in large volumes and burning them is the highest environmental pollution that could ever be done.

There are various types of recycling of tyres. In ultrasound recycling of tires high-power ultrasound is produced on to the cured rubber while its extrusion and the high pressure along with high temperatures and mechanical energy are applied. This would result in the breaking of the cross-links of the rubber and making of a new material which is like a gum rubber which can be cured again and molded to form new products again. Tire pyrolysis is an innovative technique that is a recycling method used for tire recycling. In this special mechanism is used to heat the utilized and discarded tires in a sealed environment which completely free of oxygen. This melts the tires and releases the materials used in their manufacturing. The by-products like benzene, kerosene and diesel are produced which are used elsewhere. Microwave recycling method is the procedure of remediation of discarded tires by passing them through microwaves. This would result in the excitement of the rubber till it reaches a gaseous state and then condensed into the individual components that are present in the rubber like diesel, syngas, carbon black, plated steel etc. Advantage of this method is that no emissions are produced and every component of the rubber is completely utilized.

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